Jericho's HCG Diet Log!

Physically I'm still feeling good and I don't have any real hunger, but I'm starting to go insane from thinking about all the food I can't eat. I've never thought about food this much when I wasn't hungry.

Tomorrow I'm going out for lunch with the family for my sister's birthday. I can't get out of it and I would go crazy sitting there not eating, so we're going to see how much of an effect one cheat meal has on this diet.

Physically I'm still feeling good and I don't have any real hunger, but I'm starting to go insane from thinking about all the food I can't eat. I've never thought about food this much when I wasn't hungry.

Tomorrow I'm going out for lunch with the family for my sister's birthday. I can't get out of it and I would go crazy sitting there not eating, so we're going to see how much of an effect one cheat meal has on this diet.

Like I said, the mental part is the battle, that's for sure.

I went out to lunch with co-workers several times and didn't eat. They understand how I diet for training, though.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

Felt great today physically and mentally. I felt like a whiny little bitch yesterday but seeing that scale drop again this morning really kicked my willpower back into gear.

I still let myself indulge at lunch instead of having my normal chicken & broccoli, but I managed to limit the damage to a small plate of 3 boneless wings and a few appetizers. Normally I wouldn't have considered this to be more than a little snack, but it did wonders for satisfying my cravings and kept me full for the rest of the afternoon. Diet was perfect for the rest of the day.

My workout tonight was solid but not quite as intense as last time so most of my weights stayed the same. I'm sure nobody cares about my specific numbers so I'll just keep those to my little gym notepad. The main point I wanted to make is that as a beginner doing compound lifts 2x per week I'm still able to slowly but surely add weight to the bar.

Felt great today physically and mentally. I felt like a whiny little bitch yesterday but seeing that scale drop again this morning really kicked my willpower back into gear.

I still let myself indulge at lunch instead of having my normal chicken & broccoli, but I managed to limit the damage to a small plate of 3 boneless wings and a few appetizers. Normally I wouldn't have considered this to be more than a little snack, but it did wonders for satisfying my cravings and kept me full for the rest of the afternoon. Diet was perfect for the rest of the day.

My workout tonight was solid but not quite as intense as last time so most of my weights stayed the same. I'm sure nobody cares about my specific numbers so I'll just keep those to my little gym notepad. The main point I wanted to make is that as a beginner doing compound lifts 2x per week I'm still able to slowly but surely add weight to the bar.

Congrats, buddy! I'm glad to hear it's going so well for you. On top of that, I'm very impressed at your ability to control yourself while you were out - good job.

I'm in your corner cheering for you, man.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

how much weight do you plan on losing ? my problem areas are the normal stomach love handles & thighs but ive seen people after this diet they lose weight but they dont look healthy look kinda sick and i dont want to look like that so i dont know if this route will work for me i just want to drop weight lose some fat but still look solid as for you keep up the good work

how much weight do you plan on losing ? my problem areas are the normal stomach love handles & thighs but ive seen people after this diet they lose weight but they dont look healthy look kinda sick and i dont want to look like that so i dont know if this route will work for me i just want to drop weight lose some fat but still look solid as for you keep up the good work

I would personally say that for anyone this should be sort of a last resort when it comes to fat-loss.

I think a solid diet and training plan, losing 1-2 pounds/week is way better for you. However, for those that have trouble with it, I think this could be a viable alternative. We also haven't seen that many instances of bodybuilders or those who have some level of muscle and are not just simply obese using this method. I think the more that we see people in these situations using it, we'll have a much better way of telling its effectiveness.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

Sorry can i ask , how the heck to you get rid of love handles?? Lol i mean i aint got them bad boy no means but i have um so?

Just by lowering bodyfat even lower than it already is. Unfortunately, you can't spot reduce. I do like side planks, though, and weighted side crunches, holding a dumbell on the lower back extension bench.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

Oh right i do ball cruchin and dumbells to my sides aswell .. When you say side planks do you mean it as insted of fat you like it if its hard?

Can i ask how much cardio should people do? I do 10mins before workout

This is what I mean by side planks:

And there's no blanket answer for how much cardio to do. Nutrition is going to be 99% of what gets your body the look you want. But if you're doing cardio for fat loss, I'd recommend doing it after lifting, not before, or ideally as an entirely separate workout (e.g. lift in the morning, cardio in the evening).

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

Congrats, buddy! I'm glad to hear it's going so well for you. On top of that, I'm very impressed at your ability to control yourself while you were out - good job.

I'm in your corner cheering for you, man.

Thanks bro!

The lack of any physical hunger makes it pretty easy to handle the cravings as long as you're in the right state of mind. After nibbling on a small plate I really just didn't want any more food because I wasn't hungry.

how much weight do you plan on losing ? my problem areas are the normal stomach love handles & thighs but ive seen people after this diet they lose weight but they dont look healthy look kinda sick and i dont want to look like that so i dont know if this route will work for me i just want to drop weight lose some fat but still look solid as for you keep up the good work

I'm hoping to get down to 175 by the end of this cycle. After that I'll probably try to drop another 5-10 lbs with healthy diet and exercise. A lot of people use multiple cycles of HCG to try to drop weight but I have no intention of doing more than one. Most of those people that run it multiple times have a lot more weight to lose than I did, though.

Beast is right that healthy diet and exercise is probably the best way to lose weight, and it's definitely the best way to keep the weight off. I'm hoping to use the HCG cycle as a launching point into a healthier style of weight loss.

If you're seriously considering the HCG diet I can't say right now that I'm in favor of it or that I'm against it, but I would recommend that you do as much research as you can on the subject and decide if you think it's right for you. Take my log for what it's worth, one anecdotal story that (so far) is having good results.

Pika, no offense but the things you're asking about are sort of general aspects of weight loss/fitness and not really what the conversation in this thread is about. You would probably find a lot more helpful information by using the search function and doing a little research.

Basically no change this morning. I'll take that as a trade-off for going over on cals yesterday.

Realized today that I can fit an entire day's worth of food in my lunch box lol. Makes it really easy to plan my meals on the go so at least I have no excuse to not follow the plan.

Only 10 days to go!

That was one nice thing when going to work - SO easy to handle the food. Not to mention, your grocery bill for a while is dirt cheap lol. If it gets some more research and proves to continue being effective, it's honestly one of the cheapest ways to cut weight out there. Again, I would NOT recommend this as an early resort, though.

10 more days! You got this, bud!

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

The lack of any physical hunger makes it pretty easy to handle the cravings as long as you're in the right state of mind. After nibbling on a small plate I really just didn't want any more food because I wasn't hungry.

of course, the physical hunger drops after 3-4 days on any diet, and the coffee for breakfast tends to curb hunger, and having a full tomato and apple also gives a lot of fill factor for very little calories....

I would personally say that for anyone this should be sort of a last resort when it comes to fat-loss.

I think a solid diet and training plan, losing 1-2 pounds/week is way better for you. However, for those that have trouble with it, I think this could be a viable alternative. We also haven't seen that many instances of bodybuilders or those who have some level of muscle and are not just simply obese using this method. I think the more that we see people in these situations using it, we'll have a much better way of telling its effectiveness.

ok you said bodybuilders use it also? but bodybuilders eat alot do they drop down to the 500 calorie a day diet also ??

That was one nice thing when going to work - SO easy to handle the food. Not to mention, your grocery bill for a while is dirt cheap lol. If it gets some more research and proves to continue being effective, it's honestly one of the cheapest ways to cut weight out there. Again, I would NOT recommend this as an early resort, though.

10 more days! You got this, bud!

No joke dude, my grocery bills were getting to be ridiculous. Even on a short cycle I'm saving more on groceries than the $75 it cost for the HCG + supplies.

ok you said bodybuilders use it also? but bodybuilders eat alot do they drop down to the 500 calorie a day diet also ??

Yes. The 500 calories/day is universal. I know someone who has ran tren alongside this diet just to be safe. I would think running an anabolic or even a SARM (being anabolic in nature) could be used to ensure you're not losing any muscle; but then again, I think moderately dosed BCAAs could, as well.

From what I've read/seen, people don't lose any strength when lifting throughout, so in theory, if there is any muscle loss, it's minimal (I set a PR on deadlifts like 6 days in when I attempted this lol).

Originally Posted by Jericho22

No joke dude, my grocery bills were getting to be ridiculous. Even on a short cycle I'm saving more on groceries than the $75 it cost for the HCG + supplies.

Haha, I know, man. Dirt cheap. It's a shame to see what some of these clinics charge people when the supplies are so cheap. Consultation is only worth so much...

Originally Posted by Jericho22

Day 14
179.2 lbs (-1.6, -11.0 total)

Feeling great today! I haven't been in the 170's in over 6 months.

It's hard to see gradual progress in the mirror but I definitely feel like I'm starting to look leaner. My chest and stomach are definitely still "soft" but I feel like they're not quite as bulky.

Just measured myself after I typed that. Measuring myself is awkward but here's what I came up with, allowing for some room for error:

Hi Jericho, That's the nice one plan you have made for your health and fitness... I think that this is the best one plan to keep you healthy and fit... Once you have to make a diet and exercise plan and than stay's on that will surely give you the much better one result's.....

The first round I pigged out the first two days with starting the HCG injections and gained about 10-12 pounds. The first few days, actually week, of the 500 calories were brutal. I was tired and asleep by 8pm. Second week and beyond I wasnt so tired however it was tough to follow the exact diet. Half grapefruit for breakfast, 100 grams boneless and skinless chicken breast with spinach and tomatoes for lunch and dinner and thats all. I did drink a ton of water and green tea. I did lift and some cardio. I was losing almost a pound a day and at the end of the 43 days, has lost 38 pounds and dropped sizes in clothes. Then went on 3 weeks of very low carbs and then slowly added carbs in once a week. Took 2 months off the HCG and just low carbed it. Started round 2 and basically the same results. However, was off for about 3 months, put on about 20 pounds and then Thanksgiving came around and I pigged out for 3 days straight. Did a steak day and then pounds didnt move. Since then have gained all the weight back plus some and in places I didnt have fat before. Its been a real challenge losing the weight now. Not saying the HCG has anything to do with it, its just that I can lose weight with low carbs and cardio and its just not working. The diet can be good. I have a few friends who have done it. One woman lost 86 pounds and has kept off 50 pounds of it for over 2 years. Another friend who was about 5'3'' and over 270, lost 100 pounds in a year and has since put almost all back on. I encourage you to keep up the good work and do what works for you. If you have questions, PM me.

Thanks conan! I was hoping some more people would post their experiences on this diet so we have some more examples to learn from.

The problem you and your friend faced is probably a problem that the majority of HCG Diet users face, which is realizing that losing the weight (at least on this plan) is the EASY part. Dropping the weight only takes a few weeks of strict dedication, keeping it off in the long run and staying healthy is much harder. You said you lost 38 lbs the first time and had similar results the 2nd time, so I'm guessing at least 60-70 lbs total and you said you have a friend that lost 100 lbs. Those are HUGE drops in weight! But without a drastic change to the lifestyle that put the pounds on in the first place it's not all that surprising that, given enough time, anybody will put a lot of the weight back on.

The one thing I hope people learn is that this diet is NOT a magic shot that will melt the fat and keep it off. I encourage anybody that is interested to do the research for themselves and decide if this program is right for them on an individual basis, but I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a solid plan to fall back on after the HCG Diet to KEEP the fat off for good!

Thanks conan! I was hoping some more people would post their experiences on this diet so we have some more examples to learn from.

The problem you and your friend faced is probably a problem that the majority of HCG Diet users face, which is realizing that losing the weight (at least on this plan) is the EASY part. Dropping the weight only takes a few weeks of strict dedication, keeping it off in the long run and staying healthy is much harder. You said you lost 38 lbs the first time and had similar results the 2nd time, so I'm guessing at least 60-70 lbs total and you said you have a friend that lost 100 lbs. Those are HUGE drops in weight! But without a drastic change to the lifestyle that put the pounds on in the first place it's not all that surprising that, given enough time, anybody will put a lot of the weight back on.

The one thing I hope people learn is that this diet is NOT a magic shot that will melt the fat and keep it off. I encourage anybody that is interested to do the research for themselves and decide if this program is right for them on an individual basis, but I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a solid plan to fall back on after the HCG Diet to KEEP the fat off for good!

I totally agree. In my experience once I ate carbs and sugars, my hunger got out of control. Nothing I had ever had before.

The one thing I hope people learn is that this diet is NOT a magic shot that will melt the fat and keep it off. I encourage anybody that is interested to do the research for themselves and decide if this program is right for them on an individual basis, but I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a solid plan to fall back on after the HCG Diet to KEEP the fat off for good!

see thats the thing where just changing how you eat on a regular basis, and slowly losing the weight is better overall as theres no need for a solid plan to switch to afterwards, you just keep living that way.

With my wife, the sort of plus is that she was only looking to lose 10-15lbs anyhow so not a huge change in her total mass, or daily caloric intake needs so she can more or less go back to close to what she was eating before where she was basically maintaining the 135 vs the 120 she is looking to be at.

This is turning into a great thread. I hope by the end it may even get stickied, because people who consider this route should definitely read this (along with any other user logs they can find; biggest problem being is that they really aren't out there yet).

Anyway, great work, buddy. Keep doing your thing! And glad to hear the progress is going well for your wife, Easy!

(btw, I'll say it again that I'm largely against the first two days of pigging out; totally skews the results and very likely adds bodyfat right off the bat. I think that keeping a normal diet with higher calories would be beneficial for the first day or two, until the levels stabilize and you're getting the hCG flowing, but disagree with the binge.)

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

see thats the thing where just changing how you eat on a regular basis, and slowly losing the weight is better overall as theres no need for a solid plan to switch to afterwards, you just keep living that way.

I agree with the point you're making, but I wouldn't necessarily say there is such a huge difference in starting out on a normal plan or adopting one after a round of the HCG Diet. The only difference really would be setting your maintenance calories lower since you will weigh less after the HCG.

If you use 15 cals/lb for maintenance then subtract 500 for weight loss (just an example), then at 190 lbs I would've started my cutting diet around 2350 calories and gradually decrease as I lost weight, vs starting at 2125 calories if I end up at 175 after the HCG. I'm just fast forwarding through the first 15 lbs of progression.

Somebody that is obese and just trying to "eat healthy" to lose weight probably won't go into such detail as to count calories, but at a certain point some kind of portion control is necessary and the same principle applies (less body weight = less food required).

This is turning into a great thread. I hope by the end it may even get stickied, because people who consider this route should definitely read this (along with any other user logs they can find; biggest problem being is that they really aren't out there yet).

Anyway, great work, buddy. Keep doing your thing! And glad to hear the progress is going well for your wife, Easy!

Thanks Beast!

I know I was very frustrated when trying to research this because there aren't many quality logs/reviews out there (at least that I could find). Most of them are just arguments that go something like...

HCG User: HCG is awesome! All I did was take a shot and I lost 100 pounds in 2 weeks!
Non-HCG User: Lol ur stupid, you will die on 500 cals.

Glad to see we're getting quality conversation in this thread, I was afraid I was just going to get flamed and/or ignored when I started posting this.

Originally Posted by MidwestBeast

(btw, I'll say it again that I'm largely against the first two days of pigging out; totally skews the results and very likely adds bodyfat right off the bat. I think that keeping a normal diet with higher calories would be beneficial for the first day or two, until the levels stabilize and you're getting the hCG flowing, but disagree with the binge.)

I think a lot of the claims from the original protocol are largely BS. It seems like he came up with a bunch of pointless, very specific details so if it didn't work for somebody he could blame it on something completely pointless (saying a mother can't have a taste of the sauce she cooks for her family?). Or people would get impatient after a day of no change, which inevitably happens, and he would find some small pointless detail he made up that the patient hadn't been following. They would naturally drop weight after a day or two, but they would think it was because of some magic detail that he made them change.

/end rant

I agree about the 2 day binge inflating total weight loss, as I've mentioned before, but in just 2 days I doubt it's much more than just water weight. That's why for my personal log I'm not counting the few pounds I added in those 2 days. It's a pretty crappy feeling to realize that most of the results I've found were most likely inflated by 5-10 pounds though. I have no idea how I didn't realize this before starting because I know what happens when I binge on carbs all day, I just didn't put 2 and 2 together until I actually did it myself.

I agree with the point you're making, but I wouldn't necessarily say there is such a huge difference in starting out on a normal plan or adopting one after a round of the HCG Diet. The only difference really would be setting your maintenance calories lower since you will weigh less after the HCG.

If you use 15 cals/lb for maintenance then subtract 500 for weight loss (just an example), then at 190 lbs I would've started my cutting diet around 2350 calories and gradually decrease as I lost weight, vs starting at 2125 calories if I end up at 175 after the HCG. I'm just fast forwarding through the first 15 lbs of progression.

Somebody that is obese and just trying to "eat healthy" to lose weight probably won't go into such detail as to count calories, but at a certain point some kind of portion control is necessary and the same principle applies (less body weight = less food required).

Perhaps true at only losing 10-15 lbs, but most people using this are trying to lose 40+. By them approaching it gradually over a year they build the habit of smaller portions over time. But losing it in a month, and changing your "normal" daily eating from what it was before to 1500-2000 calories less is prone to more error and along with it weight regain.

Perhaps true at only losing 10-15 lbs, but most people using this are trying to lose 40+. By them approaching it gradually over a year they build the habit of smaller portions over time. But losing it in a month, and changing your "normal" daily eating from what it was before to 1500-2000 calories less is prone to more error and along with it weight regain.

True the issue here is sticking to the new lifestyle and people will have more trouble sticking to such a radical change. If you have somebody that is truly committed to learning healthy eating habits and dedicated to losing weight I still think they would be able to do it.

This will be different from person to person though; some people will have a lot of success and some will just stop caring and put all the weight back on. For those people that immediately go back to their old habits and put the weight right back on I have to wonder if they would have even been able to stick to a gradual change long enough to lose the weight in the first place.

Just weighed in this morning. Not much change the last couple days but that seems to be the pattern lately. Hopefully I'll see another big drop in a day or 2.

Good deal, buddy. That seems to be the way it goes from what I've read; nothing, nothing, nothing, huge drop, huge drop, nothing nothing...you know

Keep going strong, I'm really excited to watch this thing til the end with you. I'm impressed at your dedication to the experiment and the log. Once I finally can get into the endo and get some answers, I very well may give this a try again.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

Good deal, buddy. That seems to be the way it goes from what I've read; nothing, nothing, nothing, huge drop, huge drop, nothing nothing...you know

Keep going strong, I'm really excited to watch this thing til the end with you. I'm impressed at your dedication to the experiment and the log. Once I finally can get into the endo and get some answers, I very well may give this a try again.

Thanks man, I'm pretty happy with the results so far. I'm glad I'm going for a short cycle though because I'm starting to feel kind of burned out. Just got back from the gym and ugh...those weights felt WAY too heavy tonight.

On a positive note - I've noticed my t-shirts that were starting to get awkwardly tight are fitting better now.

If you do decide to give it another shot be sure to keep us updated! Some more insight would be really interesting because I'm still not sure exactly how this process is working.

Thanks man, I'm pretty happy with the results so far. I'm glad I'm going for a short cycle though because I'm starting to feel kind of burned out. Just got back from the gym and ugh...those weights felt WAY too heavy tonight.

On a positive note - I've noticed my t-shirts that were starting to get awkwardly tight are fitting better now.

If you do decide to give it another shot be sure to keep us updated! Some more insight would be really interesting because I'm still not sure exactly how this process is working.

Glad you're noticing some changes, man - that makes it easier to follow. Keep pushing, man. Sucks the weights felt heavy tonight, but just know that losing some strength is always acceptable when cutting, and you're also gonna get a lot back once you get those glycogen stores replenished.

If I do it again, I'll definitely thoroughly track/log my process. That's what these forums are for.

I won't be attempting anything radical again, until after I have a chance to talk with an endo, though.

Psalm 34:10 - "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."